MicroSD Card

To record HD or 4K on any SD card, choose one with a UHS I or UHS II rating (it should say in the product title).

How much storage will I need?

Capactiy (GB)

Hours of MP3 music

Photos (12MP JPEG format)

Photos (20MP JPEG format)

Photos (20MP RAW format)

Standard HD video recording (9mbps)

Full HD video recording (13mbps)

8

135

1900

1330

130

120 mins

80 mins

16

270

3800

2660

260

240 mins

160 mins

32

545

7600

5330

520

480 mins

320 mins

64

1090

15200

10660

1040

960 mins

640 mins

128

2145

30400

21320

2080

1920 mins

1280 mins

JPEG

JPEG is the most commonly used format for taking photos. Most digital cameras will automatically use this format.

RAW

RAW formats are only used when trying to attain the highest quality on a DSLR. You would need to change to this format manually.

Memory card speeds

Read speed

How quickly you can access data on the memory card. A higher read speed means quicker download to your computer or device. 30MBs would be considered slow, while 160MBs+ would be considered fast.

Write speed

How fast your photo or film goes from being shot to being stored on the card. A slow speed could make it difficult to take photos quickly and reduce the quality of your footage.

Speed class

The minimum write speed for the card, also measured in MBs. Filming a video? A dramatic drop in write speed could cause loss of frames and reduce video quality.

UHS class

This is another measure of write speed. Cards with a UHS (ultra high speed) rating can work fast enough to capture HD and 4K images, if your device is compatible.

What memory card speeds do I need?

Memory card type

Speed class

Min. write speed

4K recording

Full HD recording

Standard HD recording

Continuous recording

HD photos

SD

UHS speed 3

30 MB/s

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SD

UHS speed 1

10 MB/s

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SD

Speed class 10

10 MB/s

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SD

Speed class 6

6 MB/s

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SD

Speed class 2

2 MB/s

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Write & protect on SD cards

Often memory cards will have the write-protect logo displayed. This means you can lock your card so that it cannot be written on. Simply move the tiny lever at the top of the card up to prevent your data being overwritten.

Flash drives and hard drives

Discover other memory storage solutions.

Flash drives and USBs

Easily store data and transfer your files with a USB memory stick or flash drive. These devices plug directly into the USB port of your computer and some can be connected to your phone.

Solid state hard drives

USB 3.0 or 2.0?

This refers to the speed of the USB interface of your device. Devices with USB 3.0 will transfer files faster than 2.0. But before you buy, make sure your device's port supports USB 3.0 or you won't see the benefit.

Phone memory

Top tips for backing up your phone and increasing its memory.

Phone flash drives

Easily transfer photos and videos between your phone and computer with a flash drive. They'll free up memory on your mobile and expand your storage by up to 128GB.